Netflix may have released its own juicy trailer for “House of Cards” yesterday, but if anything is going to rile up fans for the third season of the political thriller before it returns this Friday, Feb. 27, it will be this brilliant “Sesame Street” parody, “House of Bricks.”

There’s no sex, murder or violence – unless you count a wolf blowing down a couple of straw and stick houses – in “House of Bricks,” but the evil, Southern-accented Frank Underwolf is still determined to get into the White Brick House. And he’s not going to let three little pigs stand in his way (“Some people say there’s too much pork in this town,” says the Kevin Spacey-inspired “blowhard”). Read More »

Billy Eichner’s “Billy on the Street” game show just got a massive stamp of approval today from First Lady Michelle Obama. FLOTUS and Sesame Street’s Big Bird joined the comedian at a grocery store in Washington D.C., where they played a quiz he called “Ariana Grande or a carrot?”

Of course, Mrs. Obama doesn’t just show up on any random show without a reason. They were there to continue plugging her healthy eating campaign, “Eat Brighter.” Read More »

Oscar the Grouch has been a “Sesame Street” mainstay since the iconic PBS children’s show premiered 45 years ago, but it’s rare to see the snarky Muppet‘s rotten outlook on life be celebrated by not one, but two famous visitors to the trash-can dweller’s nabe.

It’s no “I Love Trash,” but rap artist Macklemore recently showed up on Sesame Street to sing the praises of Oscar’s beloved garbage in a (heavily) reworked version of his Grammy-winning tune “Thrift Shop.” Dancing around with two hype-grouches, Macklemore extols the virtues of digging through the trash to find some killer threads: “Wouldn’t you like to rock a fish on your noodle? Wouldn’t you like to wear the kit and caboodle? Do you have a skunk stole with the broom pit (cue the cute Muppet skunk!)? One grouch’s trash, it’s another grouch’s outfit!” Read More »

It may not be as cool as contributing to a famous charity single or starring in their own holiday special, but the boys of One Direction know that educating kids about the letter “U” is just as important. Over the weekend, the British pop sensation surfaced on this “Sesame Street” YouTube video crooning a reworked version of “What Makes You Beautiful” called “What Makes ‘U’ Useful.”

Instead of squealing tweens, this time the object of 1D’s affection was a Muppet version of the letter “U,” whom they praised for starting words such as “Udon,” “Underpants” and, in a decades-overdue acknowledgment of longtime “Sesame Street” resident Bert’s most defining feature, “Unibrow.” In addition to Ernie’s best pal, One Direction were joined in the video by familiar “Sesame Street” faces like Rosita (strumming a “Ukulele”), Grover (dancing with “Utensils”) and Elmo (standing “Upside-Down”). Read More »

The latest celebrity to team up with the cast of “Sesame Street” is British actor and Tumblr sensation Benedict Cumberbatch.

The 37-year-old star from “12 Years a Slave” and “The Hobbit” appears in a video PBS uploaded to YouTube this morning. The short clip, which was filmed last month, has been watched more than 60,000 times in a matter of hours.

Drawing on Cumberbatch’s role in “Sherlock Holmes,” which just returned to PBS from the BBC this year, the spot also includes “Sesame Street” staples Count Von Count and Murray, who insists on being called Murray-arty (a nod to Professor Moriarty). Read More »

This time, Brody really is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Special Sheep Agent Nicholas Ba-a-a-a-rody, Sesame Street’s counterpart to the character played by Damian Lewis on”Homeland,” has everyone fooled.

Sesame Street has parodied the Emmy-winning Showtime series, complete with sheep government agents, on the hunt for the Big, Ba-a-a-a-ad Wolf, Ca-a-a-a-arrie, who inevitably falls in love with Ba-a-a-a-rody, and a farm’s worth of other characters.

If that isn’t enough to delight,”Homelamb,” the parody, also features a jazz-style theme song and poster, which Sesame Street’s Twitter feed released Monday morning.

“Outside of an Emmy, this is literally what you hope for,” said Bert Salke, the president of Fox 21, which produces “Homeland.” “I had to do a quick double take when I first heard, I thought it was a mistake or joke, but there’s nothing that means more.”

Jimmy Fallon’s latest “Music Room” video — in which guests join the late-night talk show host and The Roots to perform songs with classroom instruments — features the furry cast of “Sesame Street” in celebration of the PBS show’s 44th anniversary.

They sing the show’s theme song, and this video is the gift that keeps on giving. Every time you watch it, you’ll appreciate something new — like Questlove combing Murray Monster’s yellow puff of hair, or how Black Thought makes a rhyme with “Snuffaluff.”

Bert and Ernie are celebrating this week’s Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage—at least according to the cover of the New Yorker.

The summer double issue of the magazine features an image of Bert and Ernie, longtime characters on the public television children’s show “Sesame Street,” sharing what the New Yorker calls a “moment of joy” following the Supreme Court rulings.

The cover plays off pop culture rumors that Ernie and Bert are actually a gay couple. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind the production of Sesame Street, has long held that the two are just best friends, and repeated that statement when asked today. “Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation,” the statement read in part. A spokesperson had no comment on the New Yorker cover.

A New Yorker spokeswoman said the magazine has no official statement and that the cover “kind of stands on its own.” Read More »

While his alter ego Don Draper cavorts with the neighbors on AMC’s “Mad Men” this season, actor Jon Hamm is doling out the charm with a different character: Elmo on “Sesame Street.”

In the show’s “Word of the Day” segment, Hamm teaches kids about the word “sculpture,” while a beret-wearing Elmo chisels and carves away at stone.

When Hamm asks Elmo to share his masterpiece, the red furry character says, “Elmo’s not done right now. Maybe Mr. John can show some other sculpture while Elmo finishes.” That sends Hamm on a few trips to bring back different examples of sculptures.

This week, long-time puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from his job as the voice of Elmo amid controversial sexual allegations–and experts say the scandal could put millions of dollars at risk for the Sesame Street brand.

Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of the consumer website TimeToPlayMag.com, says Elmo is between 50% to 75% of the roughly $500 million in annual retail sales for Sesame Street games, videos and apparel items featuring its characters.

“Kids loved Elmo the most,” Silver said. “Elmo is an American icon.” Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.